What is not to love? Piet Mondrian: A Dutch painter, part of the DeStijl movement who worked in rectilinear color blocks… and whose work is so beautifully translated into tile. Take the following Piet Mondrian painting for example:

Using laNeva tile, we could create something like this conceptual tile design:

If you want to read more about Piet Mondrian and the De Stijl movement in the Netherlands, or related artists, please see today’s amusing article in the UK Telegraph or the exhibition information for Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde at the Tate Modern in London running now through May 16, 2010.

January 2011 update: We are happy to announce that laNeva’s interpretation of Mondrian’s painting is now available using our handmade tile. Please take a look at our Lineal Collection Border ”Composition Six”, available as a border pattern or a mesh mounted panel suitable for tiling or grouting/framing. Shown here with dark gray grout. Please contact us for pricing & purchasing information.

LaNeva Artisan Tile is produced when we receive your order. It takes a little longer to get to you than just pulling items off the shelf, but it is worth the wait. We can produce a design perfectly for you using our many unique sizes and colors.

Making handmade tile is a detailed process with many exacting steps:

First, the raw clay needs to be rolled out into a precise thickness: Our standard thickness is 3/8″ which is the perfect thickness if you are matching our tiles to stone tiles or many other handmade tiles. It also makes a great thickness for creating drama when used with machine made tile. Order the overglazed edges and you have a great play of height differences….but I digress.

After the clay sheet is rolled, the tile shapes are cut for exactly the size, shape and quantity ordered.

The raw clay shapes are then moved onto trays and placed on racks to dry. This drying can take up to 10 days.

For our larger sizes, once dry, the fragile dried clay is carefully stacked into an electric kiln and fired. This makes the clay body solid and easy to handle. This is called a bisque firing. We do not bisque fire our smaller sizes.

After cooling, we paint the glaze colors onto the clay body by hand. In our larger tile sizes, you may see our brush strokes from how we applied the glaze. This is a look that machine made tiles cannot reproduce.

Then the tiles have to dry again.

After the second drying, the glazed tiles are carefully stacked and fired again at temperatures between 1800-1900 degrees Fahrenheit.

The tiles are allowed to cool, removed by hand and examined for quality.

Because LaNeva tiles are handmade, and each tile is a work of art, each tile will have variations in color, shape, and texture.

We then lay the completed tiles out to verify the quantity of the order and mesh mount if needed. All of our tiles are then packed carefully in recycled shipping boxes along with recycled packing materials and sent out to their final destination via UPS. It’s a process that takes us between 4-6 weeks, but we are sure you will be thrilled with the result.

Do you ever pay attention to the tile designs you see around town or in the magazines?There is a lot to learn- both good and bad.

One of the main design details that we urge you to consider is the placement of your electrical outlets and switches. Youâ€™re investing in gorgeous handmade tile, only to have a poorly placed outlet spoil the whole look.

Not only does that outlet impact the tile design, it also is unsightly with its plain plastic cover.

May we suggest alternatives:

A plug strip that is mounted underneath the upper cabinets (often called plug-mould).This is great if you only need to plug things in occasionally.If it is an item that remains plugged in for a long time, a constantly exposed cord may be as ugly as an outlet itself.

A pop-up plug.This is perfect for work spaces and even certain areas in a kitchen.It is barely noticeable when not in use.

Strategically placed plugs.Plan where your small appliances will be and plan the outlets accordingly. If you donâ€™t know for sure, p the outlets at the perimeter of the space.That will allow a gorgeous tile design and still plenty of space for your small appliances.

We try to use a combination of the tricks above, but sometimes, that unsightly plug canâ€™t be avoided.Thatâ€™s why we have switchplates and outlet covers available to match all of our glaze colors.You can also design your own outlet or switch cover with more than one color.Yes, we really have thought of everything!

- Inspect all tile prior to installation. Tile boxes should be unpacked and mixed to insure an even color blend throughout the project. Installation is acceptance of the tiles and there can be no returns or exchanges after installation.

- All laNeva tile is handmade, and made to order in the USA. Orders may be returned on a case by case basis, with prior approval from laNeva and a restocking fee.